Naval Air, Unmanned: US Navy Flying Toward N-UCAS
In early 2006 the future of DARPA’s J-UCAS program seemed uncertain. It aimed to create Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) for the USAF and Navy that could approach the capabilities of an F-117 stealth fighter.
Boeing’s X-45C was set to face off against Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Pegasus, the program had demonstrated successful tests that included dropping bombs, and aerial refueling tests were envisioned.
J-UCAS was eventually canceled when the services failed to take it up, but the technologies have survived, and the US Navy remained interested. A May 2007 non-partisan report discussed the lengthening reach of ship-killers. Meanwhile, the US Navy’s carrier fleet sees its strike range shrinking to 1950s distances, and prepares for a future with fewer carrier air wings than operational carriers. Could UCAV/UCAS vehicles with longer ranges, and indefinite flight time limits via aerial refueling, solve these problems?
Some people in the Navy seem to think that they might. Hence UCAS-D/ N-UCAS, which received a major push in the FY 2010 defense review. Now, Northrop Grumman is improving its X-47 UCAS-D under contract, even as emerging privately-developed options expand the Navy’s future choices…
Source: 12 June 2012 - defenseindustrydaily News
Photo: The U.S. Navy Force UCAS-D/ N-UCAS concept (Photo by defenseindustrydaily.com)
(6/12/2012)
|
|
| |
• U.S. Navy shapes UCLASS acquisition strategy
(4/17/2013)
Upcoming shore-based and carrier tests will help the Navy determine its acquisition strategy for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike System (UCLASS), a l...>>
• BAE's superdrone Taranis to be tested at Woomera
(4/14/2013)
The most secretive piece of airspace in Australia - the RAAF-run Woomera flight test range in South Australia - will make history later this year when the world's first unmanned su...>>
• Bell unveils V-280 Valor
(4/10/2013)
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, revealed today the Bell V-280 Valor, its offering for the Joint Multi Role/Future Vertical Lift (FVL) Technology Demonstrator (JMR/TD), at ...>>
• This is the concept fighter Boeing wants to make real by 2030
(4/9/2013)
The F-22 Raptor is what's called a fifth-generation fighter, making it the most advanced combat aircraft as of, well, right now. But around here, we don't care about right now, we'...>>
• First B-2 surpasses 7,000 flight hours
(4/6/2013)
Since the first B-2 Spirit arrived here in July 1996, its stealthiness and massive firepower have been used in missions around the world....>>
• Government, Dassault at loggerheads over HAL role in combat Aircraft deal
(4/5/2013)
The Indian government’s biggest defence acquisition of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) from French defence major Dassault Aviation could be delayed as the both partie...>>
• China Claims Innovation in J-20 Weapons Bay Design
(4/5/2013)
China’s under-development ChengduJ-20 combat aircraft recently demonstrated its missile-launch mechanism, which the Chinese media tout as a simple but “more efficient” design than ...>>
|
|
|
4/5 Generation Fighters 
